Underneath the Paris Lights
by eternallyyours4ev
Summary: As if his past wasn't filled with enough misfortune, Felix Agreste is now cursed with the bad luck attributed by the black cat miraculous. Despite this, Felix has found a sense of freedom, and his luck even begins to change in an unexpected way...
1. Curses and Assignments

Felix Agreste was not the sociable type.

In fact, he didn't like socializing at all.

That is, unless that one person he was socializing with was his secret alter egos partner, Ladybug.

He sighed hopelessly into his book as he thought of her.

He heard a giggle echo somewhere in the library. He looked up from his book and casually glanced around.

"Oh, I'm s-sorry if I disturbed you." A nervous girl's voice said.

Felix turned and met the gaze of none other than Bridgette, the girl from his class he knew was obviously crushing on him.

He stood up collecting his things. "It's fine." He mumbled trying his best to not look at her.

Bridgette held up her hands. "You don't have to leave! I'll be quiet!"

He dared to look at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked concerned.

"I was going to leave anyway."

Felix ignored her as he walked out of the library and into the streets of Paris.

"Wait!" She called out as she ran after him.

Felix glared as she ran up to him.

"If offended you, I'd like to say that I'm sorry... Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

He knew the words he was about to say were going to be cruel, but it was necessary to get her to leave him be.

He leaned in close to her. "If you really want to make it up to me, leave me alone."

He turned away from her and continued walking. As cold hearted as he had grown to be, he couldn't bring himself to turn around and see the look on her face.

This was how it always was for Felix.

He did it for the reason that he thought was best. After all, anyone who strayed too close to him was bound to get hurt somehow someway.

It was the curse of bad luck that he suffered with and wouldn't dare let it affect anyone else.

That was one of the reasons why he kept everyone away, that and the fact that he didn't feel as if he fit in with the others.

He was content with his decision to keep his distance and never get attached, it was best that way. The only one he broke this rule for was Ladybug.

Her luck saved her from suffering the fate of misfortune. If only he could get a kiss from her, maybe then his curse might be broken... But he came to accept that was unlikely to happen anytime soon.

He continued walking until he made his way to the limo he knew was waiting nearby.

At home, he knew he would get the solitude that he craved.

His father, Gabriel Agreste, was a fashion designer and was never around, especially after the disappearance of his mother.

After that, his father was never the same, and neither was Felix.

The shy but kind child Felix once was suddenly became cold and withdrawn, the lonely days inside had begun torture to him, but with the miraculous he found, he had a newfound hope.

Despite the darkness and misfortune that it filled him with, he had found her, his Lady, and even though she never returned his feelings, he had her nonetheless.

Those ocean blue eyes made him feel as if he could be happy again. Dealing with the curse of the cat miraculous was nothing if it meant that he could see her.

…

As night time came, Felix approached the window and looked out. The full moon was nowhere to be seen, but that wouldn't be a problem when he transformed.

Plagg floated close to him nosily munching on camembert. Felix plugged his nose.

"Do you have to eat that?"

Plagg threw the rest of the cheese into his mouth with a loud gulp. "If you want to transform into Chat Noir to see your girlfriend, then yes. I do have to eat this."

Felix looked at the kwami and crossed his arms. "She's not my girlfriend."

Plagg shrugged and floated off to get more cheese.

Felix watched and waited for him to finish. Holding up the hand with the black cat miraculous ring resting on his finger, he said the words that initiated the transformation, "Plagg, transformer moi!"

Plagg flew into the ring with a flash of purple and black. Felix felt the transformation dress him in the leather black suit, ruffling his hair wildly about as the cat ears appeared on his head. He smirked to himself as he caught sight of his reflection in the window before opening it and leaping out into the night.

…

Ladybug sat by the edge of the building, daintily swinging her legs back and forth over the edge as she looked at the brightly lit city.

"Good evening, my Lady."

Ladybug turned her head. Chat Noir walked over towards her and sat down besides her.

"Good evening, Chat." She said with a beaming smile.

"See anything worth fighting?"

"Nope! It seems perfectly content tonight."

She stood up and brushed her suit off. "Care to take a stroll?"

Chat smirked. "How could I ever refuse?"

Ladybug ran across the rooftops, her ribbons fluttering behind her. Chat ran after giving chase. He noticed her approaching a huge gap between two buildings. Worrying that she couldn't see it as well as he could thanks to his night vision, he shouted to warn her.

"Ladybug! Watch out for that ledge!"

She glanced at him and smiled before leaping off the edge. She appeared as if she were flying through the air, then proceeded to land with perfect poise and waved back at him.

He looked at her awestruck. She never ceased to amaze him. He continued to gallivant after her into the night.

…

The alarm clock blared causing Felix to awake with a jolt. He turned over pulling the pillow over his head while grumbling to himself about having to wake up so early.

"Rise and shine. It's time to get up."

Plagg hovered around him and crossed his arms.

"More like you want me to get up to get you cheese." Felix mumbled into his pillow.

"That's true."

Felix rolled out of bed and forced himself to get dressed and do his daily routine. He gave Plagg as much cheese as he could.

While waiting, he sat and watched the kwami eat.

Felix propped his head on his hand. "Good thing people don't get too close to me. They would probably smell the reek of cheese."

Plagg threw a slice into his mouth. "Hey I don't judge your food! And the smell of cheese is amazing to me." He looked adoringly at the last slice before throwing it into his mouth.

Felix shook his head then gestured for Plagg to hide in his bag.

Now he could leave for school.

He stepped into the limo and sat in thought. In no time, they were already at the school. Felix really didn't like the limo, but it was one of the rules his father enforced that allowed him to go to school in the first place. He glanced out the tinted window at the crowds of students standing around in groups.

"Why did I ever want to go to public school in the first place?" He grumbled to himself.

Plagg peaked out at him from inside the bag. "I think it's because you felt lonely trapped inside that house all day…"

Felix's scowl faltered. He turned away from the kwami and stepped out of the vehicle.

What Plagg said was sadly true.

No matter if he didn't like anyone he attended classes with nor talked to them, it was an opportunity for Felix to get out of his house without having to transform into Chat.

He felt less lonely even though he was surrounded with people who were considered strangers to him, and it gave him freedom to be outside his house in his civilian form.

To walk amongst people invisible like any other person, it felt strangely comforting.

Sitting now in class waiting for it to begin, he ignored all the commotion and talking going on around him and focused on his book.

As time passed, the chatter settled down as everyone began to take their seats, and the teacher started their lesson.

"Today, we'll be starting a research project. I've already assigned the topics as well as the partners."

Everyone began whispering around the room wondering who was going to be working together and what their assignment could possibly be about.

Felix tried his best not to groan to himself. Working with someone was the last thing he wanted to do.

'What a bother…' He thought to himself.

"Pay close attention everyone, these are your assigned projects and topics."

She began to read off the list. Felix sat impatiently waiting for his name to be called and pondered over who was being assigned with whom. Finally, he heard his name.

"Felix Agreste, you will be working with Bridgette Dupain-Cheng. Your project is about the news media's coverage on hero reports and how they contribute to society."

Felix glanced over at her and she glanced back surprised.

When the teacher dismissed them, Bridgette picked up her things and walked over to him.

"So it seems we're partners right?" She laughed nervously.

Felix crossed his arms.

"So it seems."

She looked down and began fiddling with her hair.

"About yesterday… I-"

"Save it. Let's focus on the assignment and nothing more."

Bridgette nodded her head and gave him a small smile. "Alright!"

"But there's one condition that you have to agree to."

"Bridgette's smile faltered. "And what might that be?" She asked nervously.

"We only talk to each other when we're working on the project, and after it's over, we go about on our way and return back to our lives as they were before."

"T-That sounds reasonable to me." She nodded her head and looked away from his glance.

"Good. Are you available to meet after school at the library tomorrow?"

She nodded her head excitably. "Yeah! It's fine with me!"

Felix grabbed his notebook out of his bag, flipping through the pages until he came upon a blank sheet. He sighed thinking about the topic. He would need little research for this…

Bridgette fiddled with her pen waiting for him.

"Alright, let's get started."

She nodded. "Are you familiar with the topic?"

'More so than you'd think.' He thought to himself.

"Yes. You could say that I am. It's covered in the news quite often."

She looked down. "I'm familiar with it too. After all, Alya runs a blog for Ladybug and talks about them quite often."

"That's an advantage."

Felix began scrawling notes and ideas across the page.

"Yes, it could be." Bridgette agreed.

She glanced over at his notes. He created a column for Ladybug and Chat Noir's traits. Ladybug's column was filled with traits, whilst Chat's was empty.

"You could say that Chat's flirty and a bit impulsive." She said pointing to the empty column.

Felix stopped writing and glanced at her.

"What?"

She glanced away from him and blushed.

"Well, that's how he appears to be from what I've seen and read."

He put the pen down and passed the notebook over to her. "You fill this column in. I'm not all too familiar with Chat…"

"A lot of people aren't." She furrowed her brow. She began to write down how she saw him, trying to keep it less personal than she wanted to.

"It's a shame too, since he's just as important as Ladybug. He may be aloof in terms of how he interacts with the public, but he's a hero with a heart of gold, or so I've seen…"

A small smirk begin to form on his face. Bridgette looked at him curiously, and smiled. He turned away from her quickly and the familiar scowl returned.

He reached over and took the notebook and pen back from her, scanning the notes before he put it back in his bag.

"We're about to be let out any minute now…" He mumbled.

She glanced at the clock. "Oh, you're right."

The teacher dismissed them.

Felix walked as quickly as he could, his pulse quickened thinking about her words about Chat. He clenched his fists, and tried to ignore these thoughts, retreating to the limo waiting outside to go home briefly for lunch.


	2. New Insights

After returning to school from lunch break, Felix and Bridgette held up their pact. They didn't speak to each other for the rest of the day. She even ignored his presence instead of doing her usual gawking whenever he was nearby.

It felt like a relief to not have to speak to her or catch her glancing his way, yet the thought of having to still interact with her because of the project, didn't completely relieve his anxiety and annoyance over having to work with her in the first place.

More so than usual, Felix didn't want to return to class ever again. Not even in the least bit. Civilian freedom or not, he'd still get to experience that as Chat Noir.

He sincerely thought it was worth giving up his school life, as long as he didn't have to deal with that annoying girl in class...

"Do you think father would consider letting me be home schooled again?"

Plagg munched on his camembert, scattering bits of cheese all over Felix's computer desk.

"After all the effort of trying so hard to get into public school, you want to quit over some silly school project? I say it's not worth it."

He sighed. "I suppose you're right…"

"I know I'm right." The kwami said smugly finishing his snack.

Felix rolled his eyes and returned to his book. He read for a while before averting his attention to the time.

It was 9:45, the usual time for patrol.

"Plagg, transformer moi!"

The kwami groaned as the energy of the miraculous pulled him into the ring, initiating the transformation.

Felix, now Chat, walked over the window slipping out into the night.

…

Ladybug glanced over the city as usual, while she awaited the arrival of Chat Noir.

Suddenly, a strange figure running along the outskirts of Paris disappeared into an alleyway.

She swiftly ran across the buildings, into the direction that they went, getting closer to where the figure would have disappeared.

Glancing down, she saw what appeared to be a man wearing the attire of a mime.

'What could a mime possibly be doing in an alley at night…?' she thought to herself.

She continued to observe him, peering over quietly.

"Looking for an alley cat, my Lady? Well look no further, I'm here."

"Chat!" She placed her finger over her lips, gesturing for him to be quiet. But the damage was already done.

The mime glanced up menacingly. Raising his arms up as if he were pulling back an arrow with a crossbow, he dropped his fingers from his invisible stance.

The sound of something whizzed close past her check. She moved her head, quickly jumping back.

Grabbing onto Chat's arm, she pulled him with her as they ran towards the mime's direction, before they lost sight of him altogether.

They stopped running.

"Looks like we lost him." Ladybug said putting a hand on her hip.

Chat huffed out a sigh. He then frowned as he glanced at her.

"Ladybug… it looks like whatever that was that he aimed at you, nicked your face."

He reached towards her, gently moving her face to the side. A small red line marred her check. She turned her face away from him.

"It's fine. It'll go away the next time I have to use lucky charm."

"I feel like this is all my fault." Chat said turning away from her. "I should've known better than to of spoke when it looked like you were investigating…"

Ladybug put her hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known something like that was going to happen."

He glanced down in thought and nodded his head."Well, it looks like there's only one thing left to do."

He wrapped his arm around her waist, as he took out his staff with his other hand.

"Wrap your arms around me."

Ladybug scoffed as she complied. Chat beamed a grin at her, his somber mood beginning to fade as he extended his staff, raising them up in height.

Chat Noir wrapped his legs around the staff, propping himself up in a sitting position. With her arms still wrapped around him, she maneuvered herself so that she was sitting on one of his knees.

They sat for a moment, scoping the city.

"Do you see anything?"

"Only the most beautiful view with one of the most gorgeous girls in the world." Chat grinned.

Ladybug groaned. Ignoring him, she continued to scan the city. Finally, she spotted the mime ducking and hiding across town.

"There! I found him!"

Chat glanced around not seeing where he was at.

"Where? I don't see him anywhere."

"Don't you have night vision for a reason, Chaton?" She laughed as she pushed his face towards the right direction.

"Ah, gotcha."

He extended the staff down, bringing them back down onto the rooftop.

Ladybug unwrapped her arms from around him.

"Chat?"

"Hmm?" He said still holding onto her waist.

"Fine…" He groaned as he let go of her.

"Let's go find that stupid mime…"

Ladybug giggled at Chat's grumpiness, before unhooking her yo-yo from around her waist, zipping across the buildings.

Chat ran after her, extending his staff when he jumped down from the building roof, following after his Lady who continued to soar across the city.

Eventually, she landed down next to him when they were nearby where the perpetrator should be.

Ladybug nodded her head towards the direction he disappeared to.

Chat then gave her a thumbs up and a wink, as they made their way to the back of a cathedral that the mime ducked behind.

They glanced around the corner observing him. The mime began kneeling down as if he were pushing something. Although nothing was there, the light cast a shadow on the graffiti covered wall revealing otherwise.

"It looks like an explosive..." Chat whispered to Ladybug.

She widened her eyes in shock.

The mime glanced over at them, smiling menacingly, as he continued to push down on the handle of the device.

They ducked behind the wall.

"I'll distract him, while you use your lucky charm to find a way to get rid of it." Chat whispered.

Ladybug nodded.

Chat slinked away from her and climbed onto a nearby building.

Carefully hoisting himself down, he jumped onto him, causing both of them to fly back away from the device.

Instead of trying to run back to the device, the mime lashed out trying to attack Chat Noir.

Chat moved to the side, causing the mime to smash his hand into a wall. Chat then latched onto a nearby wall.

"Catch me if you!" He yelled after him as he disappeared up the building.

The mime gave a look of anger. He acted as if he took something from his side, swung it, then began to pull himself up the wall with his invisible tool.

Ladybug glanced back at the shadow on the wall.

"Well, it's now or never…"

Throwing her yo-yo in the air, she shouted, "Lucky charm!" A red and black spotted dome fell down into her hands. She caught it easily with her strength.

"What is…? Ah! I got it!" She placed the dome down over the explosive device; it automatically closed, forming into a ball, concealing everything inside.

She used her yo-yo to make her way up on the rooftop again. Once up, she slung her yo-yo down below, wrapping it around the dome. When it looked like it was securely wrapped around the object, she carefully pulled it up towards her, carefully hoisting it up the building.

The mime stopped mid-fight as he glanced over at Ladybug, giving a look of horror before taking off and running. Chat began to run after him.

"Chat!" Ladybug called out. Muffled beeping now came from inside the dome.

He turned his gaze away from the mime, and ran over to her.

"I need you to hit this as far as you can with your staff when I swing it." She said raising the dome up with her yo-yo.

Chat nodded.

"Ready…"

She swung it up as high as she could in the air.

Chat leaped up hitting it with his baton, launching it far into the air.

Instead of an explosion, a burst of white light overtook it silently, causing it to disappear like it never happened.

She wiped the back of her hand across her face.

"Phew! That was a close one."

Chat crossed his arms and pouted. "The villain still got away...I didn't get to hurt him as much as I wanted to for injuring my Lady…"

Her earrings beeped frantically.

"I have a feeling we'll meet him again soon... For now I have to go before my transformation wears off. See you again soon, Chaton. Bonne nuit!"

"Bonne nuit." He said raising her hand to his lips.

Ladybug smile before walking away from him.

Unhooking her yo-yo, she zipped away into the night.

Chat shook his head and sighed, as he walked back towards the direction of his house.

…

The day went back in a flash, and before Felix knew it, he was standing in the library waiting on that silly girl to arrive.

He browsed the top section of the shelf relating to the news and media.

Plagg flew out of Felix's bag flitting near him.

"Plagg! You know you shouldn't be flying out and about like this… Someone might see you." He whispered angrily.

Plagg pouted. I just wanted to have a little fun! It gets so boring being in that bag all the time..."

Felix glared at him, "Hurry it up then. Someone might come by any minute now."

Ignoring Plagg, he turned his attention back to the books.

He scanned the shelves once more before his eyes settled on a book that's title caught his eye.

'Ladybug and Chat Noir: Modern Day Hero's'

'That would be too perfect' He thought to himself humorously.

As he reached his hand out to take the book, Plagg hurriedly flew towards him, knocking all kinds of books off the top shelves.

"Somebody's coming!" He said flying directly over Felix, causing the book that he was reaching for, as well as several others, to fall onto his head.

Felix stood there for a moment, anger fuming inside him.

Plagg floated back over to him and snickered.

"Plagg! I'm so going to get you for-"

The kwami zipped back into his bag before he could finish.

Bridgette walked around the corner. "Felix, were you talking to somebody?"

"Oh…"

She glanced at the books on the ground, as well as the book resting open on Felix's head.

His expression looked somber and embarrassed, even a bit silly.

It made her feel like she wanted to laugh, but she held her laughter back as to not possibly anger him, and walked over to him, taking the book off of his head.

"Are you OK?"

He glared at her, then walked over to the books on the floor.

Picking them up, he began to re-arrange them back on the shelf.

'So much for not making him mad.' She thought to herself.

She glanced down at the book in her hands in shock. Ladybug and Chat Noir were jumping across the rooftop together in the picture. They looked as if they were ready to make their way into combat.

Seeing herself as Ladybug in pictures still filled Bridgette with a sense of awe that it was really her underneath that mask. Glancing over at Chat's face, his serious look caught her off guard for a moment. It was almost strange to see such an expression on his face. It even looked a bit familiar… Her train of thought was lost as a new idea came to mind, she then giggled.

'Maybe teasing him might lighten things up a bit…'

"It seems like the perfect book found you." Bridgette said as she held up the book.

Felix rolled his eyes and continued to arrange the books.

'Well, that approach was worse than the first… At least I tried.' She sighed.

She sat down at the table where his bag was, and began to leaf through the pages.

Felix finally finished his task and sat down across from her.

Bridgette gave him a small smile. He glanced up at her for a second meeting her gaze, before looking away from her and reaching for his bag. Picking up his journal, he flipped to an empty page. He continued to keep his gaze down.

"Alright, let's get started."

…

They discussed the book for an hour or so, writing down a large sum of the information that they needed for the project, as well as finding other sources that related to their material.

They stopped their work for the day, and began to tidy up.

"We only have a little more to do… Would it be alright to meet up sometime soon to finish the rest?"

Bridgette grinned. "I don't mind at all!"

Felix looked away from her.

'Soon I won't have to deal with this at all… Just a little more work, and I'll be free from her presence.' He reminded himself.

"Would you be able to come by the coffee shop nearby the library tomorrow evening?"

Bridgette nodded her head.

"Definitely! It's not a problem for me."

"Good. I guess I'll see you then." Felix put his bag on his shoulder and walked out of the library.

Bridgette watched him leave, departing after she was sure he was gone. She didn't want him to think she was following him out, or make him mad again after they were working together and actually talking without any issues.

She then walked to her house, which was also a bakery; greeting her parents as she walked upstairs to her room, she took some cookies up with her.

Tikki flew out from her bag as Bridgette set them on a plate she reserved for the kwami.

"It seems you two made some good progress!" She said through bites of her cookie.

Bridgette shrugged. "It's better than not making any progress at all. I thought since he doesn't like me that much, that he would push me aside and do all the work himself since he's done that every time he's partnered up with someone… It's still a bit strange to be talking and working with him." She blushed.

Tikki flew over to her check and nuzzled her.

"I think he likes you. Everyone does!"

She put her hand lightly on the kwami and snuggled her check close to her.

"Thanks Tikki, but I don't think that's the case. I think he's just trying because he has to."

Tikki frowned. "Sometimes, people change when others help them see new things about themselves. I think you might be bringing out a new side to him, and he doesn't realize it yet." The kwami said with a wink.

"I suppose so… I just find it strange that he's actually talking to me. I really want to be his friend, but I think he'll get mad at me like he usually does."

"Give it a try Bridgette! It might take some time, but I think you can do it." She smiled.

Bridgette nodded her head. "I think I will. Thank you!" She pulled the kwami close to her and snuggled her.

…

Bridgette finished her school work, then began to work on the dress she had started sewing together, when suddenly, a loud noise came from outside. She walked over to the balcony and looked out.

Off in the distance, she saw a strange mass of grey swarming about. People were running around down below away from the swarm, or taking their phones out recording the commotion.

She sighed as she stepped back inside and looked at the dress.

"It seems we have some hero duties to attend to."

Tikki flew over to her.

"Cheer up Bridgette! you'll finish the dress soon!"

Bridgette nodded and smiled. "I hope so… Tikki, Spots on!"


	3. Coffee for Two

Ladybug snuck out of her house away from the public eye.

She ran across the rooftops in the direction of the ongoing chaos.

As she ran, she heard various people throughout the crowd calling out to her and cheering her on.

She smiled to herself, running faster towards the direction of the massive cloud of gray.

As she came closer, she could now see what was making up the unidentifiable swarm.

It was none other than hundreds, if not thousands of pigeons.

Ladybug could hardly believe what she was seeing.

She glanced up in shock at the unusual sight.

"Ladybug!" Chat exclaimed upon seeing her. He then sneezed.

Ladybug met Chat's gaze. She could see behind the mask's tinted green visor that his eyes appeared watery.

"Are you ok, Chat?"

He sniffled. "No! These crazy birds are causing my allergies to flare up!" He sneezed again and then groaned. "What are we going to do about this?"

She shook her head.

"I have no clue… I don't even why they're flying in a cluster like this."

"It's all thanks to me!" An oddly high pitched voice answered them.

Ladybug and Chat turned towards the direction of the voice.

A tall man wearing a black and grey spandex suit with a pink mask revealing all but the center of his face stood with his hands on his hips. He glanced down at them with a wicked grin.

Chat groaned. "Can you make this quick and get them to go away?" He shouted at the strange bird-like man.

"What?! That's nonsense! Why would I do that?!" The strange man said stomping his foot down.

"You didn't even ask me my villain name yet!" He crossed his arms and pouted.

"If you tell us your name, can we go on our way of getting this over with?" Ladybug said as she rolled her eyes.

He uncrossed his arms and spread them out slowly. "I am… Monsieur Pigeon! Prepare to be attacked with my pigeon army of doom!" He then posed dramatically.

Ladybug covered her mouth trying not to laugh. Chat didn't bother hiding it, he doubled over laughing so hard, he clenched his side gasping for breath.

Monsieur Pigeon's eyes narrowed in anger.

"How dare you laugh at me!" He exclaimed. "Pigeon's, Get them!" He pointed at the two.

The cloud of pigeons began to fly towards them.

Chat yelped and went running. Ladybug ran with him.

They ran in all sorts of directions trying to avoid the flying group of birds headed straight for them. They continued running across the rooftops, but the birds still managed to remain close behind.

"Where to now?! We're all but cornered!" Chat yelled as he took a quick glance at them.

Ladybug slightly turned to look back at them as well. "I'm not sure! I'm at a loss as to what to do for this."

Chat frowned. "Well, we better think of something quick!"

"I know I know! Wait… I think I have an idea, follow me!" She jogged ahead of Chat, he sneezed once and followed after her.

"This is horrible!" He said sniffling. "And my eyes are watering so much!"

"Hang in there chaton, we're getting there." She yelled back to him as they ran even farther.

She stopped on top of an old abandoned building, and grabbed his hand, leading him to an entrance. They broke through the skylight.

She held onto Chat, slung her yoyo out and gripped onto one of the building structures.

They swung midair for a moment, before Ladybug released her yoyo, they fell a short distance to the ground.

Chat grumbled as he sat up. "Now what?!"

Ladybug looked around, the sound of the pigeons was not too far off.

There was one thing she had to do. She called forth her lucky charm.

A folded up tarp dropped into her hands, and a roll of duct tape. A gigantic cage also appeared in front of her. The top of the round cage was gapping open, as well as the small door at the bottom of it.

"How exactly is this going to help?" Chat said as he glanced over the items.

Ladybug looked at Chat with a smirk.

He frowned. "Oh no… Please don't tell me you're going to make me do something I don't want to do..."

Moments later, he found himself standing in the middle of the cage.

He stood there, staring at the opening.

The pigeons soon began to flood the building. They flew close together, and noticing him, began to fly into the cage.

He started inching towards the door slowly. His eyes were watering, and he was trying so hard to prevent himself from sneezing.

Suddenly, Ladybug was at the top, she threw the tarp over the opening, quickly breaking off a piece of tape and using it to pin down the tarp to the cage's exterior structure.

She then climbed to the other side and did the same, climbing all around the cage hurriedly trying to tape down the tarp as much as she could to prevent the pigeons from escaping.

Chat was now out of the cage; shutting the door behind him with his back against it to keep them from trying to break through the door.

Ladybug then jumped down.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" She shouted, summoning her miraculous cure.

The pigeons and cage disappeared, as well as the other items that were summoned for the task. All except for a single pigeon fluttering in the place the cage had been. It landed on the ground, cooing and looking innocent.

"No! No! No!" She heard Monsieur Pigeon yell.

He peeked through the opening in the roof. "How dare you! You both will pay! Just you wait until he hears this!" He screeched before taking off. The pigeon soon flew up towards the opening and left as well.

Ladybug quickly threw her yoyo up through the entrance, hooking it onto a nearby railing. She grabbing Chat Noir, and pulled them up. They landed on the roof once more, looking around. He was nowhere in sight.

"Damn it! He's gone! There goes another villain that's slipped away from us." Chat grumbled.

Ladybug stared off into the distance. "I'm more worried about the individual Monsieur Pigeon referenced. Perhaps he's someone these villains are working for." She mumbled as she looked off in thought.

Her earrings beeped.

Chat glanced at her. "You better go." He moved closer to her, and glanced at her earring. "You're down to one spot."

She nodded, ready to leave.

Chat inched closer to her, grabbing her hand. "But before you go…"

He pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her, lips about to meet hers.

"I think I'm a little traumatized by this experience… Perhaps a kiss will help-"

Ladybug covered her hand over his mouth, before wriggling out of his embrace.

"Goodbye Chat." She said with a hint of annoyance in her eyes.

Ladybug then ran off, jumping off the rooftop, swinging through the city until she was out of sight.

"I'll get that kiss someday." Chat mumbled.

…

Felix groaned to himself as he walked to the coffee shop.

His legs were aching from all that running earlier in the morning, and he was in no mood to be around anyone, but this wasn't too surprising considering how he normally felt about being around anyone who wasn't his Lady.

At least his allergies had all but subsided by now.

He sat at a table, impatiently waiting for a while, before eventually going up to order coffee. He decided he would just have to order for her as well since she seemed to be taking so long.

Setting up all the research, he began to read over everything one more.

The shop bell rang, and Bridgette stepped in.

She quickly walked over to where Felix was sitting.

"Sorry I'm late!"

"It's fine…" He grumbled not taking his eyes off of the project.

"I got you a coffee." He pointed to the additional cup sitting across from him.

"Oh... Merci beaucoup!" She said picking it up with a smile.

He merely nodded.

She took a sip and made a face.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No! It's fine!" Bridgette faked a smile and took another slow sip.

Felix sighed. "It's the coffee, isn't it?"

She looked down and nodded her head.

"See? That was easy." He said with a slight smirk.

Bridgette blushed. "Do you always drink your coffee black?"

He fiddled with his cup. "Pretty much, I like it that way."

Bridgette looked off in thought for a moment. "I'll be right back…"

She stood up taking her coffee cup with her, and made her way in line.

Felix watched her, perplexed.

Eventually, she came back and sat down.

She took a sip and smiled, before extending the cup out to him.

"Here, try some."

He made a look of repulsion. "You drank out of it."

Bridgette rolled her eyes. "C'mon, you'll love it!"

He rolled his eyes back as well, taking the coffee cup from her. He took a hesitant sip, his expression slowly softened.

"It's OK." He shrugged.

"Just OK?" She said raising her brow.

He took another sip and sighed. "Alright, it's more than OK… It's great."

She beamed a bright grin and giggled. "I thought you would think so!"

Felix looked away from her and glanced out the window. He then turned his attention back onto the project sitting nearby. His solemn expression returned. "I think we should work on the project now."

"Oh… Alright." Bridgette agreed, trying not to look dejected.

They worked on the project for some time, until finally, they were finished.

Felix looked over everything and grinned to himself.

Bridgette secretly marveled at him. This was an expression she had rarely seen Felix ever do. It was nice.

She looked away quickly and focused on cleaning up.

He stood up now, putting his bag on his shoulder, and took the other materials in his arms.

"I'll be off now. I'll turn it in on Monday."

She nodded her head. "Alright, and thanks for the coffee!"

He nodded and walked out the door.

Tikki made a small noise from inside the purse, Bridgette opened it. "What is it Tikki?" She whispered.

"Now would be a great chance to try to establish a friendship." She suggested.

"Mon dieu! You're right!" Bridgette nearly yelled. Several people in the café glanced at her.

Ignoring them, she frantically picked up her things and nearly ran out the door in the direction that he had gone.

Bridgette's mind was racing as she ran through the crowd.

Was this really the right thing to do? Would he get mad at her? What should she say?

She saw him up ahead.

"Felix!" She called out to him

He turned around slowly. A look of confusion was on his face as he scanned the crowd, before his searching eyes made contact with hers.

That solemn look returned to his face.

He walked over to her. "What is it? Did you forget something?"

Bridgette laughed nervously. "Well, you can say that… I forgot to ask you something."

Felix held his breath for a moment.

"And what might that be?"

"Well… I was just wondering if you would you like to hang out sometime now that this project is over…"

He gave her a blank look. "What?"

Bridgette laughed as she scratched her head nervously. "I know that we said we would go about our ways and act as we did before, but I really want to try to be friends."

Felix stared at her. No hint of any emotion was on his face.

Bridgette's heart sank. "Or we can uphold the pact as planned…" She started to turn away. "I'm sorry if I bothered you, Felix." She started to walk away.

"Bridgette." She heard him say from behind her. She turned around and looked at him.

He struggled to get his words out. "As long as you don't try to annoy me too much… Perhaps… We could."

She stared at him in shock. "Really?! I'm so happy to hear that! Do you want to hang out sometime?! Oh, I know!" She hurriedly took two tickets out of her purse. "I have two tickets to go to the-"She stopped talking seeing that Felix was scowling at her.

"Oops, I'm sorry about that. I got a little carried away. I'll try to keep my emotions in check more often." She said with a small smile.

He sighed. "It's fine… I'm not asking you to change or anything. I'm just not used to talking to many people yet, or dealing with strong emotional responses." He said glancing away from her.

Bridgette smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for telling me that."

He slowly nodded his head. "And thank you for listening. I think it's best if I get going now, father expects me home by a certain time."

She smiled and nodded. "That's alright. À bientôt!" She said with a wave.

Bridgette then walked off in the direction of the bakery.

Felix glanced at her for a moment, before hurrying on his way to the mansion looming nearby.

He went into the lavish home, eventually making his way up to his room and sat down.

Plagg zipped out of his bag, flying over to Felix.

"You actually agreed to be her friend?!"

He shrugged. "I have no clue why I did that. I'll probably be regretting it later."

Plagg narrowed his eyes at him and crossed his arms. "I thought you didn't like that girl."

Felix raised his brow. "I didn't, but I've found that she's tolerable. At least she wasn't asking if she could be my girlfriend like I thought she would."

Plagg snorted. "You sound like you're disappointed that she didn't."

Felix frowned. "I don't feel that way towards her. Besides-"

"You're madly in love with Ladybug. Bleh." Plagg said.

"Now where's that camembert…" He zipped off to search for the cheese that he was fond of.

A knock came at his door. There was only one person who did that…

Plagg huffed and quickly came flying back, hiding behind Felix's tie.

Gabriel Agreste walked in.

"Hello Felix." Gabriel said as he stood in the doorway, his posture was rigidly formal as always.

"Hello father."

Gabriel walked farther into the room, "I've noticed you've been leaving the house quite often… While I don't exactly mind that you are, I would much prefer you notified me when you do, that way I can provide the security that you need."

Felix narrowed his eyes at his father. "I've left without security before, what's the sudden change now?"

Gabriel gave a look of discern, arching an eyebrow at his son. "I've been notified that you've been going to several places other than the school and the library. Locations that are outside the ones we agreed you could go to. These areas are more public than the others, and may present dangers to you." He said in that cold tone he had adapted ever since the disappearance of his wife.

Felix glanced away from him, trying to keep his composure.

What he really wanted to say was that he would be fine. He didn't need any security looking out for him. After all, he was Chat Noir. He dealt with the dangers that occurred in Paris, but he knew he would never be able to say these words to his father. He would have to reluctantly go along with his charade, and uphold the rules, no matter how much they suffocated him.

"I'll take the security measures you've established next time, father…" He reluctantly said.

Gabriel didn't look too convinced by this, but nodded his head. "You may not understand this now... But I'm only doing this for your sake, Felix…"

He glanced at his son for a moment, then turned around and walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Plagg flew out from behind his tie.

The kwami gave him a look of concern, before zipping off to the camembert supply.

Felix sighed and threw himself on the bed. He closed his eyes. Memories taunted his mind.

He kept seeing his mother's face, and how when she was with them, everything felt alright in his life.

He tried to stop the tears from forming, holding them back. He had cried enough over her disappearance, and how much he missed her. The heaviness in his heart was evident of that.

He got up from his bed.

"Plagg… transformer moi."

Plagg didn't argue or object. He merely submitted without a word.

With a blast of light that enveloped his body, Felix transformed into Chat Noir.

He was glad there was no patrol for the night. He needed this time for himself.

He opened the window, and ran across the rooftops of Paris, going as far away as possible from his home. He stopped when he was far enough, and in a secluded area.

Sitting down, he released his transformation. Plagg flew over and sat on his shoulder, while Felix blankly glanced at the city.

He took a piece of camembert out from his pocket, and handed it to the kwami.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Plagg said after he finished his food.

Felix gave a downcast look, keeping his focus on the city below. "I think it mostly has to do with how I feel about my mother's disappearance and how my life is now. All of it frustrates me so much, especially how father is now…"

He stopped talking and buried his face in his hands.

"It's alright Felix. You're going to be ok." The kwami said in his most comforting tone.

Felix dropped his hands from his face, and nodded his head slowly. "Thanks Plagg."

The kwami snuggled close to him, and even sounded like he was purring. Felix stroked the kwami with his finger, and continued to look over the city.

They sat there for a while.

"I think I'm actually going to try to make an effort to be friends with her." Felix finally spoke up.

"Are you?" Plagg said with a snicker.

Felix crossed his arms. "I think I need a change in my life, and the more that I think about it, my mother would have wanted me to befriend someone in school. She would probably be upset if she seen how I am now."

Plagg yawned. "Do what you think is best. Can we go home now? I'm getting really sleepy."

Felix snorted. "Fine, and don't you tease me about how this is going to affect my relationship with Ladybug!"

Plagg snickered. "I wasn't going to, but I'm tempted to now…" He said with a grin.

"Transformer moi!" Felix yelled before Plagg could attempt to try.

…

Gabriel Agreste retreated back to his room.

'Why does my son have to be so difficult?' He thought to himself with frustration.

He shut and locked the door.

Walking over to the large portrait of his wife, son, and him on the wall, he pulled on the frame. The portrait swung aside, revealing a safe, which was very much like the one he had down stairs, hidden behind the painting of his wife.

He punched in the code, the safe unlocked.

He took out a brooch, and closed the safe, pushing the portrait back into place as well.

Glancing at the brooch, he sighed, before placing it on underneath his tie.

Gabriel glanced at the photo momentarily, his gaze lingering on his wife's face.

"It's so difficult without you here, ma chérie… I promise, I'll do whatever it takes to bring you home again."


	4. Unexpected

Bridgette shot up out of bed. Instead of being late as usual, she was making an effort to get to school early.

She raced to turn off her alarm, and even checked the weather.

There was a forty percent chance of rain, yet she would bring an umbrella just in case.

She then quickly got dressed, ran downstairs and ate, before bolting out the door and nearly jogging the rest of her way to school.

Rushing into the classroom, Alya gave her a puzzled look.

"You're early." She remarked, glancing up from her phone.

"You're not going to believe what just happened!" She said slumping back in her seat with a grin.

Alya put her phone down. "Let me guess, it's something to do with Felix?" She said with a smirk.

Bridgette closed her eyes and sighed. "You guessed right. It's something really big."

Alya leaned closer with a grin on her face. "Tell me everything this instant!"

Bridgette glanced around the room, making sure no one was nearby, before spilling everything to her best friend. After she finished telling her nearly everything from their encounters, more people began to enter the room.

"I can't believe he agreed to be friends with you!" Alya whispered excitedly.

"I know right?! I was surprised too! I'm just hoping he won't change his mind about it."

"I hope not as well. It would be so amazing if you could actually befriend Felix Agreste. He's so quiet, and always looks so grumpy."

As if right on cue, Felix walked into the classroom, sitting down in his seat.

"And did I mention handsome too?" Alya said glancing over at him. "But you already knew that didn't you?" She lightly elbowed Bridgette and giggled.

Bridgette hushed her and blushed.

Before Alya could say anymore, the teacher walked in, and class began.

"Alright everyone, please meet with your partner, and ensure that you have everything for your projects and that your names are on it. This should only take several minutes or less. After this, we will then continue on with our lesson."

Alya winked at Bridgette and slightly pushed her forward before walking off to her partner.

Bridgette stood there hesitantly, merely glancing at him from where she was.

Felix began taking out the materials from his bag, and glanced over at her, before going back to his things.

She took a deep breath and walked over to him.

"Good morning." She greeted him.

"Good morning." He mumbled back.

"Is all good with the project? Everything have our names on it?" She asked him shyly.

"Yes. All is in order." He said glancing over everything once more. "We can turn it in now."

He began to pick up some of the materials. Bridgette picked up the rest of the assignment, and followed him to where everything was being turned in.

After everything was in the places it should have been, she walked beside him to his seat.

"Felix… Do you want to get lunch together?"

He looked at her quizzically. "Where do you have in mind?"

Bridgette's mind went blank for a moment. "W-we can go back to my parent's bakery, or the café, or find a food cart and go to a-"

"The café sounds like a good idea."

He momentarily met her gaze, before looking down at his book.

"I think class is about to begin again."

She looked around the room briefly, seeing that most of the students were back at their seats by now. She blushed and walked back to her seat.

Alya smiled at her, clearly wanting to know what Bridgette and Felix were talking about.

"So…" Alya said nudging her. "What was that about?"

"Just project stuff." Bridgette said with a shrug. "Oh, and I'm having lunch with Felix today. Is that ok with you? If it's not I can always-"

Alya wrapped her arms around her friend and laughed. "No no it's alright! I'll just go have lunch with Nino! You go have fun!" She nearly yelled.

Bridgette giggled at her enthusiasm, all the while secretly hoping Felix didn't hear any of this.

Class started up again, and the lesson went by agonizingly slow. Bridgette stared blankly ahead through most of it, lost in her daydreams.

She only knew class was dismissed when Felix stood in front of her and cleared his throat.

She woke from her daze with a jolt, nearly knocking things off of her desk.

"I'm so sorry!"

Felix shook his head and rolled his eyes. "It's fine…"

Alya and Nino stopped by them. "She's hopeless isn't she?" Alya said as she mused Bridgette's hair.

Felix snorted. "There's no denying that."

"Hey!" Bridgette said crossing her arms.

Alya and Nino chuckled. "We'll leave you to it, have fun you two!" They said as they walked out of the room.

"Sorry about that." Bridgette said with a huff.

Felix shrugged. "Are you ready to go? We don't want to waste too much time."

"Yeah! Right!" She got up from her seat quickly and began to walk out the door. She stopped.

"Wait! I forgot my umbrella!"

Felix crossed his arms. "There's a low chance that it's going to rain, besides, it's sunny outside."

"You never know, it might!" She exclaimed as she ran back and grabbed it. She then jogged back to him with a smile.

"Alright, let's go!"

…

They walked to the coffee shop. It was not much of a distance; in fact, it was conveniently close to the school.

Entering, they made their way into line. It wasn't as busy as it was in the evening that they had first went.

Felix glanced at the specials. "You go first." He suggested to Bridgette. She smiled and placed her order-a caramel coffee and a small pastry. She paid for her food, and walked away to search for a seat while waiting on Felix, finding a perfect spot by the window.

Felix soon came over; coffee cup in hand, and a croissant on a small plate in the other.

He sat down across from her and began to eat, she did the same.

"So what coffee did you order?" She asked curiously.

Felix hesitated before answering, "Something different."

"Not your usual black coffee?" She said with a giggle.

"For once it's not." He said taking a sip.

"Which one did you order?"

Felix looked down at his cup and smirked, before extending the cup to her. "Guess."

Bridgette gave him a look of confusion. Hesitantly, she reached out to take the cup from him.

It smelled very sweet, like creamer but with a hint of vanilla. Sure enough, after one sip she could definitely tell that it was vanilla, just with a lot of cream and sugar added. In fact, it was even more than she would add to hers!

"Its vanilla, but it's got a lot of cream and sugar added to it." She said handing him back the cup with a smile.

"I blame you for this." He said with a small chuckle.

"Hey! I was just suggesting something better than boring old black coffee."

They both laughed.

A cell phone went off.

Felix grabbed it out of his pocket, his expression faltered. "It's my dad… Excuse me for a moment."

He got up and walked outside. Bridgette looked for him, but it appeared as if he walked off. The sky no longer looked as sunny as it did when they first came, and rain began to pour down, matching the now somber mood in the air.

She sipped her coffee and continued to watch the rain. Felix came back minutes later; water was dripping off of him, and he appeared to be upset by something.

"You OK?" She said as he sat back down.

He slowly nodded his head, and folded his hands.

"I think its best we get back now. Lunch break is almost over."

"Alright…"

She looked away from him, not knowing how to comfort him or whether it would even be a good idea to ask him about it, so she decided to avoid the subject.

"I saw that it was raining." She said trying to change the subject to a lighter note.

He looked up at her. "Yes, it is."

They both got up and walked out. The rain had all but subsided.

"Well, it was…" He said with a frown.

Bridgette pretended to pout. "And here I thought it was a good thing I brought my umbrella!"

Felix's frown turned into a small smile, he chuckled. "To think, it almost came in handy."

…

They had walked back, and class proceeded as usual.

Eventually, class went by in a flash, and they were dismissed for the day.

Felix walked over to her seat.

"Is it alright if I walk you home?"

Bridgette stopped packing up her bag and gave him a dumbfounded look. Alya stopped what she was doing and looked at him too.

"Um yeah sure!" She exclaimed.

Felix nodded his head. "You got everything you need?"

"Yeah! I'm all ready to go. Bye Alya!" She said with a wave.

"Text me when you get home!" Alya called out. Nino walked up behind her, and gave a bewildered look at Bridgette and Felix, turning to Alya with an intrigued look on his face. They both exchanged grins and started whispering to one another.

Bridgette scoffed. She would get on those two later about how they were acting when Felix came around.

They walked from the school and out into the street, keeping to small talk as usual.

Talking to Felix was still quite new, as well as it was perplexing. Bridgette tried her best to not to bombard him with anything too extreme or outside his comfort zone.

Even if it was only small talk for now, she knew in her heart that there was way more to discover about him underneath the façade that he seemed to uphold.

Every now and then, it seemed to slip away ever so slightly. Whether it be in the gleam of his eyes, the small smiles he sometimes showed, or when he looked as if he was lost in his thoughts. She wanted to get to know the real Felix Agreste, and be a friend to him as much as she could.

"So," Bridgette interjected as she twiddled the umbrella in her hands. "Are you doing anything fun this weekend?"

"Not really." He said looking off in the distance. "It's my birthday, but I'll probably just read or study, nothing too out of the ordinary."

"I-Is it?!" Bridgette's eyes lit up. "How old will you be?"

"Eighteen."

"Since, it's your birthday, do you want to hang out?"

He gave her a hesitant look. "No parties of any sort, right?"

"Not unless you want one!"

He shuddered. "I'd rather not. As you can tell, I'm not one for parties."

Bridgette laughed. "It's alright, parties are overrated anyways. I'll figure something out!"

He gave her a nervous look. "Just tell me when you do, so I can prepare."

"No problem Felix!" She said with a twirl.

A car zoomed by, water sloshed on her all of a sudden, drenching her completely.

Felix's eyes widened in shock. Bridgette looked down at herself, and then broke out into a laugh.

"A-are you ok?!"

"I'm alright." She said with a grin. "Can't say I've ever had that happen to me before, it's an experience."

Felix gave her a reluctant look. "If you say so…"

They stopped in front of the bakery.

"I guess it's a good thing it happened so close to your home."

She shrugged. "I suppose so. I'm lucky I guess!" She chuckled to herself.

They said goodbye to each other, and Felix went on his way.

He felt thankful that his father actually agreed to let him go without the limo in the afternoons. It helped him clear his thoughts being able to have the chance to walk through town without having to be Chat.

He was still surprised that he did it nonetheless, after all, he wasn't too pleased to hear that his son didn't come home for lunch, but he softened when he heard that Felix was out with a friend. Perhaps his father did have a heart after all… He thought to himself.

Yet there were other thoughts that were troubling him now... Was his bad luck beginning to rub off on Bridgette?

He hurried home and went to his room.

Feeding his kwami, he patiently waited for him to finish eating.

"Plagg?"

His green eyes looked up at him."Yes?" He said after finishing off the last bite of food.

"I need to ask you something… it's about the miraculous and its curse."

…


End file.
